Carol Ann Duffy Poems

ORIGINALLY

• 'We came from our own country in a red room'

  • Metaphor:
  • Interpretation: 'red room' signifies womb imagery; evokes themes of danger and disorientation associated with migration.

• 'which fell through the fields'

  • Word choice:
  • The term 'fell' suggests a loss of control, indicating the family's helplessness as they are swept along in the move.

• 'one of them bawling, Home, / Home'

  • Repetition:
  • This emphasizes the desperate and uncontrollable longing for a return to their original home.

• 'the vacant rooms / where we didn't live any more'

  • Word choice:
  • The word 'vacant' conveys emotional emptiness and underscores a sense of bereavement as they adjust to their new life.

• 'I stared / at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw'

  • Imagery:
  • This reflects the speaker's helplessness and their need for comfort; they identify with the unseeing toy, symbolizing their lost innocence and security.

• 'All childhood is an emigration'

  • Metaphor:
  • This universalizes the personal experience of the speaker, suggesting that all children undergo some form of displacement.

• 'Your accent wrong.'

  • Blunt syntax:
  • This denotes harsh exclusion and indicates that the speaker is judged and rejected based on their cultural identity.

• 'My parents' anxiety stirred like a loose tooth / in my head'

  • Simile:
  • This simile portrays a nagging, persistent anxiety that cannot be ignored, creating an uncomfortable feeling of unease.

• 'I remember my tongue / shedding its skin like a snake'

  • Simile:
  • Here, shedding the old identity during the process of assimilation is depicted as a transformation that represents a kind of loss.

• 'feel only / a skelf of shame'

  • Word choice:
  • 'Skelf' (a Scots term for a splinter) implies that the speaker experiences only a small yet sharp pang of shame, indicating a distancing from their origins.

• 'Originally? And I hesitate.'

  • Fragmented syntax:
  • This reflects the speaker's unresolved uncertainty regarding their roots; they struggle to answer the question of their origin.

• Tense shift:

  • The transition from past tense to present tense in 'And I hesitate' illustrates that the past remains unresolved, highlighting that the question of identity is still an ongoing struggle.

MRS MIDAS

• 'The kitchen / filled with the smell of itself, relaxed'

  • Personification:
  • This establishes a warm domestic atmosphere which is a stark contrast to the ensuing events.

• 'that twig in his hand was gold'

  • Word choice:
  • The understated delivery makes the supernatural element more shocking; it serves as a breaking point from the mundane world.

• 'it sat in his palm, like a lightbulb. On.'

  • Simile + minor sentence:
  • The word 'On.' denotes an abrupt realization of danger; the moment signifies a switch in her understanding of the situation.

• 'He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne'

  • Simile:
  • This presents an ironic grandeur, transforming her domestic partner into someone alien and unapproachable.

• 'Within seconds he was spitting out the teeth of the rich'

  • Imagery:
  • This grotesque depiction reveals the darkly comic, grotesque consequences of greed; it showcases the self-destruction that desire can lead to.

• 'he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank'

  • List/gradation:
  • The rapid, escalating transformation illustrates the supernatural taking hold in real time.

• 'I made him sit… I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone.'

  • Anaphora:
  • The repeated 'I' showcases Mrs. Midas regaining control; it underscores her strong and practical character amidst chaos.

• 'And who, when it comes to the crunch, can live / with a heart of gold?'

  • Irony:
  • This idiom about kindness is utilized literally, adding a layer of tragedy to the impossibility of her situation.

• 'its amber eyes / holding their pupils like flies'

  • Imagery:
  • This conveys lifelessness; even dream occasions are haunted by the curse, leading her to mourn for what she has lost.

• 'My dream milk / burned in my breasts.'

  • Word choice:
  • The term 'burned' implies a painful longing, suggesting that the curse has deprived her of a future family.

• 'I drove him up / under the cover of dark'

  • Word choice:
  • This implies shame and hints at her complicity in concealing the truth from others.

• 'the woman who married the fool / who wished for gold'

  • Word choice:
  • Referring to him as a 'fool' indicates self-deprecating contempt and her humiliation at both his greed and her choice of partner.

• 'Pure selfishness.'

  • Minor sentence:
  • This crystallizes her contempt for her husband's thoughtless desires, revealing that he never considered the consequences for her.

• 'I miss most, / even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.'

  • Repetition:
  • This reflects her mourning of the physical intimacy, highlighting that love still exists beneath her bitterness.

• Dramatic monologue:

  • The use of first-person throughout reclaims a woman's perspective from male myths, emphasizing the importance of her voice and experience.

IN MRS TILSCHER'S CLASS

• 'Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery'

  • Word choice:
  • The term 'chanted' suggests a spellbinding, magical quality in her teaching style.

• 'The classroom glowed like a sweet shop'

  • Simile:
  • This depicts warmth and abundance, illustrating the classroom as a place full of delight.

• 'Brady and Hindley / faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake'

  • Simile:
  • This indicates that the classroom serves to protect children from real-world evils, preserving their innocence.

• 'Mrs Tilscher loved you'

  • Word choice:
  • The term 'loved' conveys unconditional care, thus characterizing the classroom as a warm and safe space.

• 'the inky tadpoles changed / from commas into exclamation marks'

  • Extended metaphor:
  • This metaphor illustrates a transformation from passive forms of expression (commas) to more assertive and emotional expressions (exclamation marks), signifying the journey of growing up.

• 'A rough boy / told you how you were born'

  • Word choice:
  • The word 'rough' indicates a brutal intrusion of adult knowledge, signaling a violent end to childhood innocence.

• 'stared / at your parents, appalled'

  • Word choice:
  • This indicates shock and disgust as the child perceives their parents in a new sexual light, shattering their earlier perception of them.

• 'the air tasted of electricity'

  • Synesthesia:
  • This overwhelming sensory experience conveys the tension that accompanies the transition into adolescence.

• 'the heavy, sexy sky'

  • Oxymoron:
  • This phrase communicates the oppressive awareness of emerging sexuality and the burden associated with growing up.

• 'Mrs Tilscher smiled, / then turned away'

  • Word choice:
  • Her inability to protect the child now marks the end of the security and innocence she provided.

• 'the sky split open into a thunderstorm'

  • Imagery:
  • This denotes a violent, sudden end to innocence; adolescence is portrayed as an unstoppable natural force.

• Structure:

  • The poem transitions from a joyful first half to a dark and unsettling second half, mirroring the abrupt shift from childhood innocence to adolescent anxiety.

MEDUSA

• 'A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy / grew in my mind'

  • Tricolon:
  • Each term escalates in severity, indicating a transition from suspicion to a consuming obsession with jealousy.

• Turning objects into stone:

  • Extended metaphor:
  • The act of transforming a bee, a bird, a cat, a pig to stone symbolizes how jealousy literalizes the destruction of everything she loves; emotions warp the world around her.

• 'My bride's breath soured, stank / in the grey bags of my lungs'

  • Word choice:
  • The terms 'soured' and 'stank' convey decay from within, suggesting that her most intimate self has become corrupted.

• 'There are bullet tears in my eyes'

  • Metaphor:
  • Tears are depicted as weaponized, signifying that grief and rage have merged into a dangerous entity, making her dangerous even in sorrow.

• 'Are you terrified? / Be terrified.'

  • Rhetorical question + imperative:
  • This confrontational stance denotes a shift in power dynamics, as she commands her betrayer to face her wrath.

• 'Look at me now'

  • Direct address:
  • This challenges her betrayer to confront her transformed self; the victim's position of power shifts to her as the threat.

• 'Wasn't I beautiful? / Wasn't I fragrant and young?'

  • Rhetorical questions:
  • These express nostalgic longing, as she reflects on her past desirability before she was consumed by jealousy.

• 'with a shield for a heart / and a sword for a tongue'

  • Metaphor:
  • This conveys how Perseus is portrayed as cold and weaponized; he is depicted as the true monster, not Medusa.

• Feminist strategy:

  • Duffy narrates the myth entirely from Medusa's perspective, making the 'monster' sympathetic and emphasizing that the real horror arises from betrayal.

• Structure:

  • Short, fragmented stanzas build tension leading to a final confrontational stanza; the phrase 'Look at me now' signifies reclaimed rage.

HAVISHAM

• 'Beloved sweetheart bastard.'

  • Oxymoron:
  • This phrase represents the coexistence of love and hatred; the speaker grapples with unresolved feelings, indicating that contradiction defines her emotional state.

• 'Not a day since then / I haven't wished him dead.'

  • Double negative:
  • This emphasizes an obsession with one emotion—hatred; her feelings have remained unwavering since the betrayal.

• 'ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with'

  • Violent imagery:
  • Her aged veins are imagined as weapons, showcasing a visceral desire for vengeance that feels physically embodied.

• 'Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.'

  • Dark imagery:
  • This fantasizes about reversing power dynamics; she seeks the honeymoon she never had, transforming it into a nightmarish scenario.

• 'Whole days / in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall'

  • Sound imagery:
  • The word 'cawing' depicts animalistic regression, while the elongated 'Nooooo' signifies primal, irrational grief.

• Decay and violent imagery:

  • 'the dress / yellowing' and 'I stabbed at a wedding cake':
  • This demonstrates her frozen state in time, where everything decays while she acts out her rage and torment.

• 'Spinster. I stink and remember.'

  • Minor sentences:
  • This declaration reflects a loss of dignity; the term 'Spinster' labels her by society's standards, representing both physical decay and obsessive fixation.

• 'Love's / hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursting / in my face. Bang.'

  • Oxymoron + imagery:
  • This juxtaposes the elements of love and hate, underscoring their inseparability; 'Bang.' signifies the sudden violent impact of this realization.

• 'Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks.'

  • Fragmented word:
  • Her stuttering reflects her mental break, indicating that her entire self has shattered, not just her heart.

• Structure:

  • The poem's fragmented, broken syntax and irregular patterns mirror her fractured mental state, portraying the collapse of both time and language.

BEFORE YOU WERE MINE

• 'I'm ten years away from the corner you laugh on'

  • Imagery:
  • The speaker observes her mother's past from a distance in time; it highlights the possessive nature of her love and the impossibility of reclaiming it.

• 'Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn.'

  • Allusion:
  • The reference to Marilyn Monroe evokes glamour and carefree sexuality, portraying the mother as a vivid, independent figure before motherhood.

• 'The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?'

  • Word choice:
  • The term 'possessive' asserts that the speaker's birth was an imposition on her mother, embedding a sense of guilt within her love.

• 'I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics'

  • Word choice:
  • The term 'relics' implies that the shoes are sacred remnants of her mother's lost identity and former self.

• 'your ghost clatters toward me over George Square'

  • Metaphor:
  • Her carefree mother is depicted as a ghost, symbolizing the life extinguished by motherhood; 'clatters' evokes vibrant energy now lost.

• 'I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello'

  • Word choice:
  • 'Bold' emphasizes the confident, independent self the speaker feels she has taken away from her mother through her birth.

• 'stamping stars from the wrong pavement'

  • Imagery:
  • This reflects the lost joyful energy of her mother's earlier life, vibrant and carefree before embracing motherhood.

• Second person narrative:

  • The frequent use of 'you' directed at the mother creates intimacy, making the imagined past more vivid and enriching the connection between them.

• Present tense usage:

  • The application of present tense for past events serves to revive her mother's former life, making it feel immediate and accessible; the speaker embodies that past.